Incentive-based waste reduction system and method thereof

ABSTRACT

An incentive-based waste reduction system and method thereof are disclosed herein. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, an incentive-based waste reduction system comprises a collection means comprising at least a load-determining device, the collection means for obtaining a quantifiable measure of waste material from an entity, a value associated with the quantifiable measure of waste material, an adjustment factor for adjusting the value associated with the quantifiable measure of waste material, determined from an algorithm, the algorithm taking as an input at least a predetermined factor, a credit value associated with at least a quantifiable measure of deposited waste material, and a reward value associated with the credit value. Information about the waste material is transmitted to a host server which performs actions based on the received information, including reconfiguring a deployment scheme of trucks to routes to save resources.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/435,619, filed May 5, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,354,474,which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/345,867, filed Feb. 2, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,949,557, whichclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.60/650,610, filed Feb. 7, 2005, and U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/435,619, filed May 5, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,354,474, is also acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/854,387,filed Sep. 12, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,185,922, and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/435,619, filed May 5, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No.10,354,474 also claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. PatentApplication No. 61/050,978, entitled “Incentive-Based Waste ReductionSystem and Method Thereof,” filed May 6, 2008, and of U.S. PatentApplication No. 61/053,716, entitled “Incentive-Based Waste ReductionSystem and Method Therefor,” filed May 16, 2008, all of which areincorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND Field of the Invention

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a wastemanagement system. More specifically, embodiments of the presentinvention relate to an incentive-based waste reduction system and methodthereof.

Description of Related Art

The cost of waste collection and disposal in many cities around theworld has reached a critical level. The decrease in available landfillcapacity translates directly into an increase in cost for disposing ofmunicipal solid waste. As such, cities and towns across the UnitedStates and around the world are seeking cost-efficient alternatives tolandfill disposal and other increasingly costly forms of wasteprocessing.

Furthermore, even where landfill capacity exists, there remains thepotential for environmental hazards associated with landfill operation.Toxic chemicals and other hazardous substances contained in landfillshave the potential to leech into the surrounding environment, causingcontamination of groundwater and soil. Additionally, the methane gasproduced from the decomposition of decaying waste matter is a greenhousegas, having a warming potential which is about twenty-five times that ofcarbon dioxide. As such, disposal of non-reusable materials has asignificant impact on the environment, which will negatively impact thefuture of our planet.

In view of the above described financial and environmental consequencesassociated with the disposal of waste in landfills, many municipalitieshave been encouraged to actively pursue alternatives to conventionalwaste disposal. Although there have been many attempts made in the pastto implement a system for promoting recycling habits and discouragingdisposal of non-reusable materials, none have yet been practical,feasible, or effective for achieving their intended purpose.

Thus, there is a need for an incentive-based system designed toencourage waste reduction, and a method of operating and managing thesame.

SUMMARY

An incentive-based waste reduction system and method thereof aredisclosed herein. In accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention, an incentive-based waste reduction system comprises acollection means comprising at least a load-determining device, thecollection means for obtaining a quantifiable measure of waste materialfrom an entity, a value associated with the quantifiable measure ofwaste material, an adjustment factor for adjusting the value associatedwith the quantifiable measure of waste material, determined from analgorithm, the algorithm taking as an input at least a predeterminedfactor, a credit value associated with at least a quantifiable measureof deposited waste material, and a reward value associated with thecredit value.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a methodfor implementing an incentive-based waste reduction system comprises thesteps of collecting at least a quantifiable measure of deposited wastematerial associated with an entity, obtaining and recording one or morevalues associated with at least a quantifiable measure of depositedwaste material, adjusting one or more values associated with at least aquantifiable measure of deposited waste material based on apredetermined disposal allotment value, associating a credit with one ormore values associated with at least a quantifiable measure of depositedwaste material, and distributing a credit to the entity.

In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, amethod for implementing an incentive-based diversion system comprisesthe steps of collecting a quantifiable measure of deposited wastematerial, collecting a quantifiable measure of deposited recyclablematerial, obtaining one or more values associated with the quantifiablemeasure of deposited waste material, obtaining one or more valuesassociated with the quantifiable measure of deposited recyclablematerial, adjusting one or more values associated with at least one ofthe quantifiable measure of deposited waste material and thequantifiable measure of deposited recyclable material based on apredetermined diversion ratio, associating a credit with one or morevalues associated with at least one of the quantifiable measure ofdeposited waste material and the quantifiable measure of depositedrecyclable material, and distributing a credit to the entity.

In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, atangible computer-readable medium comprises program instructions,wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement:inputting data associated with at least one of a quantifiable measure ofdeposited waste material and a quantifiable measure of depositedrecyclable material, obtaining one or more values associated with atleast one of the quantifiable measure of deposited waste material andthe quantifiable measure of deposited recyclable material, adjusting oneor more values associated with at least one of a quantifiable measure ofdeposited waste material and a quantifiable measure of depositedrecyclable material based on a predetermined factor, associating acredit with one or more values associated with at least one of thequantifiable measure of deposited waste material and the quantifiablemeasure of deposited recyclable material, and distributing a credit tothe entity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So the manner in which the above-recited features of the presentinvention can be understood in detail, a more particular description ofembodiments of the present invention, briefly summarized above, may behad by reference to embodiments, one of which is illustrated in theappended drawings. The appended drawings illustrate only typicalembodiments of embodiments encompassed within the scope of the presentinvention, and, therefore, are not to be considered limiting, for thepresent invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

FIG. 1 depicts an incentive-based waste reduction system in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 depicts a general purpose computing system in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 depicts a methodchart for a method of implementing anincentive-based waste reduction system in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 4 depicts a methodchart for a method of implementing anincentive-based waste reduction system in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 5 depicts a methodchart for a method of implementing anincentive-based diversion system in accordance with yet anotherembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 depicts a methodchart in which a deployment scheme for trucks isdynamically reconfigured based on received information about depositedmaterial;

FIG. 7 depicts a taxonomy of time frames by which deposited materialinformation is assessed;

FIG. 8 depicts a taxonomy of entities to which costs are designated fora route; and

FIG. 9 depicts a taxonomy of actions that may be performed by a hostserver.

The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and arenot meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or theclaims. As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in apermissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather thanthe mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words“include,” “including,” and “includes” mean including but not limitedto. To facilitate understanding, like reference numerals have been used,where possible, to designate like elements common to the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to anincentive-based waste reduction program. Other incentive-based systemsare disclosed with respect to recycling. Such systems are disclosed incommonly owned United States Patent Application Publication No.2006/0178933, entitled “Method and System for Improving RecyclingThrough the Use of Financial Incentives,” published Aug. 10, 2006, andUnited States Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0059970, entitled“Methods and System for Managing Recycling of Recyclable Material,”published Mar. 6, 2008, the entire disclosures of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

FIG. 1 depicts an incentive-based waste reduction system in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention. Generally, the system 100comprises a waste container 102, a pickup vehicle 104, a host 106 and auser device 107.

In many embodiments, the waste container 102 is adapted to acceptrecyclable and/or other waste material deposited by an entity(“deposited material”) for collection by the pickup vehicle 104. As usedherein, the terms “recyclables,” “recyclable materials,” and allderivative forms thereof, refer to at least conventional recyclablematerials (e.g., metals, plastics, glass, wood, paper, textiles) and mayadditionally include organic materials (e.g., biodegradable waste), anyother compostable and/or biodegradable material, or reusable material.As used herein, the terms “waste,” “waste material,” and all derivativeforms thereof, may refer to any tangible material not classified as arecyclable above. The deposited material may include one type of or anycombination of types of recyclable and/or waste material.

The waste container 102 may be of any shape or size so long as it isadapted to hold a quantifiable measure of the deposited material. Thewaste container 102 may be provided to an entity or user (not shown) fora fee (e.g., a one-time, fixed, rental, deposit, or other type of fee)or for free (e.g., on loan or given outright). In another embodiment, auser may be provided with a plurality of waste containers 102. In suchan embodiment, each waste container may be used to store different typesof materials (e.g., recyclables, organics, garbage). In yet anotherembodiment, separate waste containers 102 may be used to contain eachtype of material per container (i.e., recyclables in container 102, postorganics/yard waste in container 102 and garbage in container 102).

The waste container 102 may include an identification tag 108 foridentifying the waste container 102. The identification tag 108 may beused to track each collection of the deposited material. Theidentification tag 108 may be machine-readable device, such as abar-code label, a magnetic-strip device, aradio-frequency-identification (“RFID”) tag and the like; and mayinclude and/or be programmed with information for identifying the wastecontainer 102, and in turn, information (e.g., an address, an account,etc.) associated with the entity (“entity information”).

Alternatively, the identification tag 108 may be a non-machine readablelabel or other non-machine readable device. As such, the identificationtag 108 may include an identifier that can be transferred to (e.g.,manually entered into) the host 106, which in turn, uses the identifierto obtain information stored thereon for identifying the waste container102 and the entity information.

The pickup vehicle 104 may be a truck or other movable vehicle adaptedto receive the recyclable and waste materials from the waste container102. For example, the pickup vehicle 104 may include a lift 114 adaptedto receive, capture and/or cause the transfer of at least some or all ofthe deposited material from the waste container 102. One exemplary typeof pickup vehicle is a “garbage truck,” such as the type disclosed byU.S. Pat. No. 4,242,311, which is incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

In addition, the pickup vehicle 104 may include a load-determiningdevice 110 and a data acquisition unit 112. The load-determining device110 may include any of, any multiple of, any combination of or anycombination of multiples of a scale, load cell, load-cell system, acounting device and/or system or other measuring apparatus or system for(i) determining a quantifiable measure (e.g., weight, quantity, etc.) ofthe deposited material and/or (ii) transferring such quantifiablemeasure (“deposited-material measure”) to the data-acquisition unit 112for storage and/or subsequent processing. The load-determining device110 may, for example, determine the deposited-material measure as afunction of a plurality of weight measurements of the waste container102 obtained before and after the deposited material are transferred tothe pickup vehicle 104.

Alternatively, the load-determining device 110 may determine thedeposited-material measure as a function of quantities and types of thedeposited material in waste container 102 before and after such materialare transferred to the pickup vehicle 104. The load-determining device110 may determine the deposited material measure in other ways as well.

Some or the entire load-determining device 110 may be coupled (e.g.,affixed or removably attached) to the pickup vehicle 104. For example,all or portions of the load-determining device 110 may be coupled to thelift 114. Alternatively, all or portions of the load-determining device110 may be removably attached to the vehicle for storage duringtransport, and detached from the pickup vehicle 104 to allow theload-determining device 110 to determine the deposited-material measureand/or transfer the deposited-material measure to the data-acquisitionunit 112.

The data-acquisition unit 112 and host 106 may be communicativelycoupled together via a link or network (collectively “network”) 116.This way, the data-acquisition unit 112 and host 106 may exchangeinformation via one or more communications carried over the network 116.

The network 116 may be a partial or full deployment of most anycommunication or computer network or link, including any of, anymultiple of, any combination of or any combination of multiples of apublic or private, terrestrial wireless or satellite, and wirelinenetworks or links. The network 116 may include, for example, networkelements from a Public Switch Telephone Network (“PSTN”), the Internet,core and proprietary public networks, wireless voice and packet-datanetworks, such as 1G, 2G, 2.5G and 3G telecommunication networks,wireless office telephone systems (“WOTS”) and/or wireless local areanetworks (“WLANs”), including, Bluetooth and/or IEEE 802.11 WLANs,wireless personal area networks (“WPANs”), wireless metropolitan areanetworks (“WMANs”) and the like; and/or communication links, such asUniversal Serial Bus (“USB”) links; parallel port links, Firewire links,RS-232 links, RS-485 links, Controller-Area Network (“CAN”) links, andthe like.

The network elements and/or communication links may include circuitswitches as well as packet-data elements to provide transport ofcontent, triggers and/or other information; and may be configured tocommunicate such information using any number of protocols and in anymanner consistent with exchanging such information amongdata-acquisition unit 112 and host 106. These protocols may includestandardized, proprietary, open-source, and freely-availablecommunication protocols for communicating content in circuit-switchingand/or packet data networks, and the like.

The data acquisition unit 112 may be, for example, any of or anycombination of a personal computer; a portable computer, a handheldcomputer, a mobile phone, a digital assistant, a personal digitalassistant, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a pager, a digital tablet, alaptop computer, an Internet appliance and the like. In general, thedata acquisition unit 112 includes a processor-based platform thatoperates on any suitable operating system, such as Microsoft® Windows®,Linux and/or Symbian; and that is capable of executing software.

Additionally, the data acquisition unit 112 may be formed in a singleunitary device and concentrated on a single server, client, peer orother type node. Alternatively, the data acquisition unit 112 may beformed from one or more separate devices, and as such, may bedistributed among a number of server, client, peer or other type nodes.The data acquisition unit 112 may also be scalable (i.e., may employscale-up and/or scale-out approaches).

The data acquisition unit 112 may include a large number of elements,most of which are not shown in FIG. 1 for simplicity of exposition. Asshown, the data acquisition unit 112 includes a processing platform 118that is operable to control, manipulate or otherwise interact with amonitor 120 or other display device (collectively “monitor”) and/or aninput/output (“I/O”) device 122, via respective couplings.

The monitor 120 may be any suitable device that displays viewable imagesand/or text generated by the processing platform 118. For instance, themonitor 120 may be any of or any combination of a liquid-crystal-display(LCD) based monitor, a cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor, a plasma displaymonitor, a surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED) monitor, anorganic light-emitting diode (OLED) display monitor, or any othermonitor that can display viewable images using television and/orcomputer protocols, such as Super Video Graphics Array, Digital VisualInterface, Phase Alternating Line, SECAM, NTSC, etc.

The I/O device 122 may be any device that accepts input from a user (manor machine) to control, manipulate or otherwise interact with theoperation of the processing platform 118. In addition, the I/O device122 may be adapted to obtain from the identification tag 108 the entityinformation and/or identifier that identifies the waste container 102.Examples of the I/O device 120 include any of or any combination ofpointing device, such as a mouse, joystick, trackball, touchpad,pointing stick, light pen, head pointer, soap mouse, eye trackingdevices, digitizing tablet and stylus, data glove that translates theuser's movements to computer gestures; a key-in device, such as akeyboard or a touchpad; and a reader, such as a bar-code reader, amagnetic-strip reader, a RFID reader, and the like. Although shown as asingle device, the I/O device 122 may be separated into two or moredevices, each of which may have, as compared to the I/O device 122,reduced, increased or equivalent functionality. In addition, the I/Odevice 122 and the monitor 120 may be integrated or otherwise combinedtogether in a single device and/or housing.

The processing platform 118 includes memory 124, one or more processors(collectively “processor”) 126, support circuits 128 and bus 130. Thememory 124 may be or employ random access memory (RAM), read-only memory(ROM), optical storage, magnetic storage, removable storage, erasableprogrammable read only memory and variations thereof, contentaddressable memory and variations thereof, flash memory, disk drivestorage, removable storage, any other memory type feasible in thecontext of the present invention, any combination thereof, or the like.

The memory 124 may store and/or receive requests from the processor 126to execute software 132, such as operating system 134. Additionally, thememory 124 may store and/or receive requests from the processor 126 toobtain (i) operands, operators, dimensional values, configurations, andother data that are used by the operating system 134 and the software132 to control the operation of and/or to facilitate performing thefunctions of the data acquisition unit 112; and/or (ii) one or morerecords or other data structures (collectively, “records”) 136 _(i)-136_(n).

Each of the records 136 _(i)-136 _(n) may be stored as or in a singlefile or a plurality of files, and may be structured as text, a table, adatabase, a distributed hash table, a distributed concurrent objectstore, a document formed using a markup or markup-like language, anyother structure feasible in the context of the present invention, anycombination thereof, or the like. The records 136 _(i)-136 _(n) mayinclude, for example, a deposited-material record 136 _(j). Thedeposited-material record 136 _(j) may store, be populated with, orotherwise adapted to hold the deposited-material measure as determinedby the load-determining device 110.

The processor 126 may execute (e.g., launch, generate, run, maintain,etc.) and/or operate on the operating system 134. The processor 126 maybe capable of (i) executing the software 132; (ii) storing the records136 _(i)-136 _(n) in the memory 124; (iii) dispatching to the host 106the records 136 _(i)-136 _(n) (including the deposited-material record136 _(j)) for further processing; (iv) issuing triggers and/or (v)issuing one or more commands and/or instructions to cause the furtherprocessing of records 136 _(i)-136 n. Examples of the processor 126include conventional processors, microprocessors, multi-core processors,microcontrollers, and the like.

The support circuits 128 facilitate operation of the processor 126 andmay include well-known circuitry or circuits, including, for example, anI/O interface, one or more network-interface units (“NIUs”); cache;clock circuits; power supplies; any other structure feasible in thecontext of the present invention; any combination thereof; or the like.The NIUs may be adapted for communicating over any of, any multiple of,any combination of or any combination of multiples of terrestrialwireless, satellite, and/or wireline media. The processor 126 (and inturn, the data-acquisition unit 112) may use the NIUs for exchangingcontent with the host 106 via network 116.

The bus 130 provides for transmissions of digital information among theprocessor 126, the memory 124, support circuits 128 and other portionsof the data acquisition unit 112 (shown and not shown). The I/Ointerface is adapted to control transmissions of digital informationbetween (shown and not shown) components of the data acquisition unit112. In addition, the I/O interface is adapted to control transmissionsof digital information between I/O devices disposed within, associatedwith or otherwise attached to the data acquisition unit 112. Examples ofthe I/O devices include the I/O device 122, the monitor 120, and any orany combination of (i) storage devices, including but not limited to, atape drive, a floppy drive, a hard disk drive or a compact disk drive;(ii) a receiver; (ii) a transmitter; (iii) a speaker; (iv) a display;(v) a speech synthesizer; (vi) an output port; and (vii) the like.

The operating system 134 may include code for operating the dataacquisition unit 112 and for providing a platform onto which thesoftware 132 can be executed. The software 132 may includedata-acquisition software, which may carry out the acquisition of andstorage of the deposited-material measure into the deposited-materialrecord 136 _(j). The data-acquisition software may also communicate thedeposited-material record 136 _(j) to the host 106 using, for example,the communication and/or security protocols compatible with the dataacquisition unit 112 and the host 106. To facilitate this, thedata-acquisition software may include code to allow the data-acquisitionsoftware (and/or the data acquisition unit 112) to substantiate itsidentity, and in turn, receive authorization to access (e.g., view,configure, use, and/or execute) services of the host 106.

The host 106 may include one or more servers, including a host server138. The host server 138 may be deployed in one or more general orspecialty purpose computers, personal computers, mainframes,minicomputers, server-type computers and/or any a processor-basedplatform that operates on any suitable operating system, such asMicrosoft® Windows® and/or Linux, that is capable of executing software.

Like the data acquisition unit 112, the host server 138 may include alarge number of elements, most of which are not shown in FIG. 1 forsimplicity of exposition. The elements of host server 138 may be formedin a single unitary device and concentrated on a single server, client,peer or other type node. Alternatively, the elements of the host server138 may be formed from two or more separate devices, and as such, may bedistributed among a number of server, client, peer or other type nodes.

The host server 138 may be deployed in accordance with the scale-upand/or scale-out approaches. Using the scale-up approach, the hostserver 138 may increase its processing power, amount of memory andnumber of networkable connections by utilizing a symmetrical,multi-processor architecture so as to provide additional capacity. Abenefit of this scale-up approach is that such approach provides forsimplified configuration and management as compared to the scale-outapproach. Using the scale-out approach, the host server 138 may increaseits processing power, amount of memory and number of networkableconnections by incrementally adding and/or removing capacity as needed,balancing workload across multiple processors, multiple servers,dedicating specific processors and/or servers for performing specifictasks, using physical or logical servers (e.g., a multi-node clusterapproach), etc.

As shown, the host server 138 includes one or more processing units(collectively “processor”) 140, memory 142, support circuits 144 and bus146. The processor 140 may be one or more conventional processors,microprocessors, multi-core processors, microcontrollers, any otherprocessor type feasible in the context of the present invention, anycombination thereof, or the like.

The bus 146 provides for transmissions of digital information among theprocessor 140, memory 142 and support circuits 144 and other (not shown)portions of the host server 138. The support circuits 144 facilitateoperation of the processor 140, and may include well-known circuitry orcircuits, including, for example, one or more input/output I/Ointerfaces, one or more NIUs, cache, clock circuits, power supplies, andthe like.

The I/O interface provides an interface to control the transmissions ofdigital information among (shown and not shown) components of hostserver 138. In addition, the I/O interface provides an interface tocontrol the transmissions of digital information among I/O devices 139associated with or otherwise attached to the host server 138. The I/Odevices 139 may be embodied as any or any combination of (i) storagedevices, including but not limited to, a tape drive, a floppy drive, ahard disk drive or a compact disk drive; (ii) a receiver; (ii) atransmitter; (iii) a speaker; (iv) a display; (v) a speech synthesizer;(vi) an output port; (vii) a pointing device, such as a mouse, joystick,trackball, touchpad, pointing stick, light pen, head pointer, soapmouse, eye tracking devices, digitizing tablet and stylus, data glovethat translates the user's movements to computer gestures; (vii) akey-in device, such as a keyboard or a touchpad; (viii) and the like.

The NIUs facilitate exchange (e.g., sending and/or receiving) ofcontent. Accordingly, the NIUs may be adapted for communicating overterrestrial wireless, satellite, and/or wireline media.

The memory 142 may be or employ random access memory (RAM), read-onlymemory (ROM), optical storage, magnetic storage, removable storage,erasable programmable read-only memory and variations thereof, contentaddressable memory and variations thereof, flash memory, disk drivestorage, removable storage, any other storage medium feasible in thecontext of the present invention, any combination thereof, or the like.The memory 124 may store and/or receive requests from the processor 140to execute various software packages, such as operating system 148,application-server software 150 and web-server software 152.

Additionally, the memory 142 may store and/or receive requests from theprocessor 140 to obtain the records 136 _(i)-136 _(n) (e.g., copiesthereof). As above, each of the records 136 _(i)-136 _(n) may be storedas or in a single file or a plurality of files, and may be structured astext, a table, a database, a distributed hash table, a distributedconcurrent object store, a document formed using a markup or markup-likelanguage, or the like, or any combination thereof. The records 136_(i)-136 _(n) may be stored, for example, using a Microsoft SQL Serverand accessible through an ODBC connection.

Like the records 136 _(i)-136 _(n), the memory 142 may store and/orreceive requests from the processor 140 to obtain operands, operators,dimensional values, configurations, and other data that are used by thevarious software packages to control the operation of and/or tofacilitate performing the functions of the host server 138 and/or thehost 106.

The application-server software 150, when executed by the processor 140,is operable to (i) communicate with the data acquisition unit 112, viathe network 116, to obtain the deposited-material record 136 _(j); anddetermine a value associated with the deposited-material measure storedin the deposited-material record 136 _(j). In addition, theapplication-server software 150, when executed by the processor 140, isoperable to associate the value to a credit, which may be redeemable bythe entity; post the credit to a user account associated with the entity(“entity account”); and provide the web-server software 152 with accessto the entity account.

The web-server software 152, when executed by the processor 140, isoperable to provide one or more web pages to allow the entity to accessthe entity account, and in turn, the credit and other informationassociated with the waste reduction activities. For example, web-serversoftware 152 may post the credit on the web pages that are accessible toentity via the user device 107 and entity account, so as to enable theentity to view details of the entity account. The details of the entityaccount may include the credit (and/or previously accrued credits)associated with the waste reduction activities of the deposited (and/orpreviously deposited) material, dates associated with the wastereduction activities, quantities and types of the deposited (and/orpreviously deposited) material recycled over a given period of time,debits from the credit (and/or previously accrued credits), detailedhistory of spending of the credit (and/or previously accrued credits),any orders or vouchers for redeemed credits, any other data orinformation feasible in the context of the present invention, anycombination thereof, or the like.

In addition, the web-server software 152, when executed by the processor140, is operable to allow the entity, via the user device 107, to redeemthe credit. This may include the web-server software 152 providing aportal to retailers to allow the entity to redeem the credit (and/orpreviously accrued credits) at the retailers to obtain goods, services,coupons valued for goods or services, other benefits or discounts, anyother goods and/or services feasible in the context of the presentinvention, any combination thereof, or the like.

The web-server software 152 may also be operable to allow the entity totransform the credit (and/or previously accrued credits) into one ormore vouchers that may be spent at the participating retailers ordonated to some other entity. To facilitate this, the web-serversoftware 152 includes code to allow the entity to (i) order the vouchersfor delivery by mail, e-mail or other communication medium; and/or (ii)provide information to the entity via the user device 107 to allow theentity to print or otherwise reduce to physical form, store it on theuser device 107 or a peripheral device coupled to the user device 107(e.g., a PDA, memory device, etc.).

The user device 107 may be, for example, any of or any combination of apersonal computer, a portable computer, a handheld computer, a mobilephone, a digital assistant, a personal digital assistant, a cellularphone, a smart phone, a pager, a digital tablet, a laptop computer, anInternet appliance and the like. In general, the user device 100 mayinclude a processor-based platform that operates on any suitableoperating system, such as Microsoft® Windows®, Linux and/or Symbian,that is capable of executing software.

The user device 107 may, however, include a large number of elements,many of which are not shown in FIG. 1 for simplicity of exposition. Theuser device 107 includes elements similar to the data acquisition unit112, except as described hereinbelow. The user device 107 may be formedin a single unitary device and concentrated on a single server, client,peer or other type node. Alternatively, the user device 107 may beformed from one or more separate devices, and as such, may bedistributed among a number of server, client, peer or other type nodes.In addition, the user device 107 may be scalable.

As shown, the user device 107 may include a processing platform 109operable to control, manipulate or otherwise interact with a monitor 111and/or an I/O device 113, via respective couplings. The processingplatform 109, the monitor 111 and the I/O device 113 include elementssimilar to or the same as the processing platform 118, the monitor 120and the I/O device 122 of the data acquisition unit 112, and as such,the details of such elements are not reproduced here for simplicity ofexposition.

The user device 107 is operable to form a user interface through whichthe entity can access the web pages provided by the web-server software152. To facilitate this, the user interface may be communicativelycoupled with the host server 138 via a network 116. The user interfacemay be, for example, a graphical-user interface that is operable toexecute a web browser application for rendering on the monitor 111 theweb pages provided by the web-server software 152. As noted, the entitymay use the user device 107 to access the entity's account, redeemcredits and/or other like functions.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, at least oneof the data acquisition unit, the user device, and/or the host comprisea computer or computer device, for example, the general purposecomputing device in the form of a computer 210 depicted in FIG. 2.Components shown in dashed outline are not part of the computer 210, butare used to illustrate the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 2. Components ofcomputer 210 may include, but are not limited to, a processor 220, asystem memory 230, a memory/graphics interface 221, also known as aNorthbridge chip, and an I/O interface 222, also known as a Southbridgechip. The system memory 230 and a graphics processor 290 may be coupledto the memory/graphics interface 221. A monitor 291 or other graphicoutput device may be coupled to the graphics processor 290.

A series of system busses may couple various system components includinga high speed system bus 223 between the processor 220, thememory/graphics interface 221 and the I/O interface 222, a front-sidebus 224 between the memory/graphics interface 221 and the system memory230, and an advanced graphics processing (AGP) bus 225 between thememory/graphics interface 221 and the graphics processor 290. The systembus 223 may be any of several types of bus structures including, by wayof example, and not limitation, such architectures include IndustryStandard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) busand Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus. As system architectures evolve, other busarchitectures and chip sets may be used but often generally follow thispattern. For example, companies such as Intel and AMD support the IntelHub Architecture (IHA) and the Hypertransport architecture,respectively.

The computer 210 typically includes a variety of computer readablemedia. Computer readable media can be any available media that can beaccessed by computer 210 and includes both volatile and nonvolatilemedia, removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and notlimitation, computer readable media may comprise computer storage mediaand communication media. Computer storage media includes both volatileand nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in anymethod or technology for storage of information such as computerreadable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data.Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM,EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digitalversatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,or any other medium which can be used to store the desired informationand which can accessed by computer 210. Communication media typicallyembodies computer readable instructions, data structures, programmodules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier waveor other transport mechanism and includes any information deliverymedia. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one ormore of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encodeinformation in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation,communication media includes wired media such as a wired network ordirect-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF,infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of the any of the aboveshould also be included within the scope of computer readable media.

The system memory 230 includes computer storage media in the form ofvolatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM) 231and random access memory (RAM) 232. The system ROM 231 may containpermanent system data 243, such as identifying and manufacturinginformation. In some embodiments, a basic input/output system (BIOS) mayalso be stored in system ROM 231. RAM 232 typically contains data and/orprogram modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presentlybeing operated on by processor 220. By way of example, and notlimitation, FIG. 2 illustrates operating system 234, applicationprograms 235, other program modules 236, and program data 237.

The I/O interface 222 may couple the system bus 223 with a number ofother busses 226, 227 and 228 that couple a variety of internal andexternal devices to the computer 210. A serial peripheral interface(SPI) bus 226 may connect to a basic input/output system (BIOS) memory233 containing the basic routines that help to transfer informationbetween elements within computer 210, such as during start-up.

In some embodiments, a security module 229 may be incorporated to managemetering, billing, and enforcement of policies. The security module 229may comprise any known security technology suitable for embodimentsdisclosed herein.

A super input/output chip 260 may be used to connect to a number of“legacy” peripherals, such as floppy disk 252, keyboard/mouse 262, andprinter 296, as examples. The super I/O chip 260 may be connected to theI/O interface 222 with a low pin count (LPC) bus, in some embodiments.The super I/O chip 260 is widely available in the commercialmarketplace.

In one embodiment, bus 228 may be a Peripheral Component Interconnect(PCI) bus, or a variation thereof, may be used to connect higher speedperipherals to the I/O interface 222. A PCI bus may also be known as aMezzanine bus. Variations of the PCI bus include the PeripheralComponent Interconnect-Express (PCI-E) and the Peripheral ComponentInterconnect-Extended (PCI-X) busses, the former having a serialinterface and the latter being a backward compatible parallel interface.In other embodiments, bus 228 may be an advanced technology attachment(ATA) bus, in the form of a serial ATA bus (SATA) or parallel ATA(PATA).

The computer 210 may also include other removable/non-removable,volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. By way of example only,FIG. 2 illustrates a hard disk drive 240 that reads from or writes tonon-removable, nonvolatile magnetic media. Removable media, such as auniversal serial bus (USB) memory 254 or CD/DVD drive 256 may beconnected to the PCI bus 228 directly or through an interface 250. Otherremovable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage mediathat can be used in the exemplary operating environment include, but arenot limited to, magnetic tape cassettes, flash memory cards, digitalversatile disks, digital video tape, solid state RAM, solid state ROM,and the like.

The drives and their associated computer storage media discussed aboveand illustrated in FIG. 2, provide storage of computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules and other data for thecomputer 210. In FIG. 2, for example, hard disk drive 240 is illustratedas storing operating system 244, application programs 245, other programmodules 246, and program data 247. Note that these components can eitherbe the same as or different from operating system 234, applicationprograms 235, other program modules 236, and program data 237. Operatingsystem 244, application programs 245, other program modules 246, andprogram data 247 are given different numbers here to illustrate that, ata minimum, they are different copies. A user may enter commands andinformation into the computer 210 through input devices such as amouse/keyboard 262 or other input device combination. Other inputdevices (not shown) may include a microphone, joystick, game pad,satellite dish, scanner, or the like. These and other input devices areoften connected to the processor 220 through one of the I/O interfacebusses, such as the SPI 226, the LPC 227, or the PCI 228, but otherbusses may be used. In some embodiments, other devices may be coupled toparallel ports, infrared interfaces, game ports, and the like (notdepicted), via the super I/O chip 260.

The computer 210 may operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer280 via a network interface controller (NIC) 270. The remote computer280 may be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peerdevice or other common network node, and typically includes many or allof the elements described above relative to the computer 210. Thelogical connection between the NIC 270 and the remote computer 280depicted in FIG. 2 may include a local area network (LAN), a wide areanetwork (WAN), or both, but may also include other networks. Suchnetworking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-widecomputer networks, intranets, and the Internet.

In some embodiments, the network interface may use a modem (notdepicted) when a broadband connection is not available or is not used.It will be appreciated that the network connection shown is exemplaryand other means of establishing a communications link between thecomputers may be used.

Although the computer 210 of FIG. 2 is described as an exemplarycomputing device for various applications of embodiments of the presentinvention, it should be appreciated, a multitude of similar computingdevices exist and are equally suitable for embodiments of the presentinvention. It is further understood by embodiments of the presentinvention, a computing device may comprise all of the elements disclosedin FIG. 2, or any combination of one or more of such elements, in orderto perform the necessary functions of the embodiments of the presentinvention.

It should be noted that any of the embodiments of the present inventiondescribed or contemplated herein may be utilized in connection with oneor more embodiments of the inventions described in commonly-owned U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/189,217, entitled “Recycling Kiosk Systemand Method Thereof,” filed Aug. 11, 2008; and U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/189,218, entitled “Drop-Off Recycling System and MethodThereof,” filed Aug. 11, 2008, each of which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety. Each of these applications disclosealternative system architecture for enabling the incentive-basedenvironmentally beneficial systems and methods thereof. As such, it isappreciated such architectures could support embodiments of the presentinvention, yielding substantially similar beneficial results.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a method diagram illustrating an example of amethod 300 for providing incentives to reduce waste is shown. Forconvenience, the method 300 is described with reference to the system100 of FIG. 1. The method 300, however, may be carried out using otherarchitectures and systems as well.

The method 300 starts at step 302. Prior to step 302, the entitydeposits waste material in the waste container 102, and the pickupvehicle 104 is dispatched to and arrives at an address of the entity. Atstep 304, the data acquisition unit 112 obtains the information foridentifying the waste container 102 and the entity information. The dataacquisition unit 112 may obtain such information from the identificationtag 108. The information from the identification tag 108 may be obtainedwith or without the entity and/or operator of the pickup vehicle 106 orother person (collectively “operator”) interacting with the dataacquisition unit 112.

For example, the data acquisition unit 112 may obtain the informationfrom the identification tag 110 automatically using the reader (e.g., aRFID receiver, bar-code reader, magnetic-strip reader, etc.) that iscommunicatively coupled to the I/O interface of the data acquisitionunit 112. To facilitate this, the operator may position the wastecontainer 102, and in turn, the identification tag 108, in a field ofview of the reader.

Alternatively, the operator may position the reader so the wastecontainer 102 falls within the field of view of the reader. The readermay be affixed to the pickup vehicle 104 (e.g., attached to the lift 114or other portion of the vehicle) or removably attached to the pickupvehicle 104 (e.g., a tethered handheld scanner).

As another alternative, the data acquisition unit 112 may obtain theinformation by having the operator, via the one of the I/O devices(e.g., the keyboard, touchpad, mouse, etc.,) enter the identifierassociated with the identification tag 108. The data acquisition unit112 may obtain the information in other ways as well. A

At step 306, the data acquisition unit 112 obtains a quantifiablemeasure of deposited material in waste container 102. To facilitatethis, the waste container 102 is positioned or otherwise placed on theload-determining device 110, and the load-determining device 110receives a trigger, command or other input to cause the load-determiningdevice 110 to determine and transfer the deposited-material measure tothe data acquisition unit 112. This may be carried out, as noted above,in any number of ways.

One of these exemplary ways includes positioning the waste container 102on the lift 114 to which is attached the load-determining device 110,and causing the load-determining device 110 to determine thedeposited-material measure as a function of a plurality of weightmeasurements of the waste container 102 obtained before and after thedeposited material is transferred to the pickup vehicle 104 by the lift114. Alternatively, the load-determining device 110 may, for example,determine the deposited-material measure as a function of a plurality ofmeasurements of quantities of the deposited material in waste container102 obtained before and after such material is transferred to the pickupvehicle 104 by the lift 114. The load-determining device 110 maydetermine the deposited-material measure in other ways as well.

After determining the deposited-material measure, the load-determiningdevice 110 transfers the deposited-material measure to the dataacquisition unit 112. This may be done in response to a query by thedata acquisition unit 112 and/or upon being triggered as a result of acondition, such as in response to one or more manipulations of the I/Odevice 122 of the data acquisition unit 112 by the operator or otherimpetus. After transfer, the data acquisition unit 112 stores thedeposited-material measure in the deposited-material record 136 _(j) forlater dispatch to the host 106. The data acquisition unit 112 may obtainthe deposited-material measure in other ways as well.

At step 308, the data acquisition unit 112 dispatches thedeposited-material measure to the host 106 for further processing. Thedata acquisition unit 112 may do this, for example, by dispatching thedeposited-material record 136 _(j) to the host 106. The dispatch may becarried out in response to a query by the host 106 and/or upon beingtriggered as a result of a condition, such as in response to one or moremanipulations of the I/O device 122 of the data acquisition unit 112 bythe operator or other impetus. Alternatively, the data acquisition unit112 may dispatch the deposited-material record 136 _(j) on a periodicbasis using, for example, a routine for synchronizing and/or replicatingthe deposited-material record 136 _(j) on the host 106.

At step 310, the host 106 uses the host server 138 andapplication-server software 150 to determine a value associated with thedeposited-material measure stored in the deposited-material record 136_(j). To facilitate this, the host server 138 and application-serversoftware 150 first obtain the deposited-material record 136 _(j) fromthe data-acquisition unit 112. The application-server software 150 mayobtain the deposited-material record 136 _(j) using the routine forsynchronizing and/or replicating the deposited-material record 136 _(j)on the data-acquisition unit 112. Alternatively, the application-serversoftware 150 may obtain the deposited-material record 136 _(j) via anupload over the network 116. The upload may be handled, for example, bya Cold Fusion MX backend executing on the application-server software150. Using Cold Fusion Markup Language (CFML), the Cold Fusion MXbackend parses, where appropriate, and stores the deposited-materialrecord 136 _(j) in memory 142.

As noted above, the value associated with the deposited-material measuremay be financial (e.g., monetary or economic). For example, the valuemay be based, at least in part, on an amount of the deposited material.Alternatively, the value may be based, at least in part, upon financialofferings of one of more retailers participating in a rewards program(“participating retailers”). The value may have a minimum and/or amaximum. The maximum may be based on time (e.g., no more than “x” for agiven period of time).

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, an entitymay be allotted an allowable amount of disposable material—that is, alltypes of disposable material, including recyclables, organics, andgarbage—over a specified period of time (e.g., a week, two weeks, amonth). This allotment may also be determined by the size of the entityand how many waste generating units for which that entity may beaccountable. During such time, if the entity produces exactly theallotted amount of disposable material, the entity is assigned apredetermined value associated with the deposited-material measure. Ifthe entity produces less than the allotted amount of disposablematerial, the entity is assigned a value associated with thedeposited-material measure that is more desirable than the value thatwould have been assigned to the entity if the entity had producedexactly the allotted amount of disposable material.

Conversely, if the entity produces more than the allotted amount ofdisposable material, the entity is assigned a value associated with thedeposited-material measure that is less desirable than the value thatwould have been assigned to the entity if the entity had producedexactly the allotted amount of disposable material. In some embodiments,an entity may be debited a value correlating to the undesirable amountof disposable material, or a set amount. In such types of embodiments,not only is an incentive present to motivate an entity to reuse andrecycle, but a penalty is present in the event the entity does notadequately perform to the incentivized levels.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, thevalue assigned to an entity associated with the deposited-materialmeasure may be additionally affected by a ratio. Such a ratio maycompare a measure of non-reusable material (i.e., garbage) with ameasure of reusable material (e.g., recyclable material, organics,compostable material). The ratio may be a ratio of waste material torecyclable material, a ratio of waste material to a total amount ofmaterial (i.e., a sum of reusable and non-reusable material), a ratio ofreusable material to a total amount of material or any other ratio orcomparison feasible in the context of the present invention. Ratios mayalso be selective based on a particular type of waste material orreusable material. For example, a ratio may be between types of organicsin the reusable materials. Any of these ratios may be referred to hereinas a “diversion ratio.”

In one such embodiment, the value may be adversely affected if the ratioof waste material to reusable material is above a specified value.Conversely, the value may be positively affected if the ratio of wastematerial to reusable material is below a specified value. Such a ratiomay use any base that is feasible in the context of the presentinvention, including but not limited to weight, mass, volume, andquantity (e.g., articles, countable pieces).

EXAMPLE 1

An entity receives a recyclable/waste container. Depending on how manyunits are associated with the entity or the size of entityfacility/footprint, environmental footprint, and the like, themunicipality determines how much waste the entity should generate. Forinstance, if the entity is a household, a family a four may generate:200 pounds of municipal solid waste (msw) per month; 120 lbs ofrecycling (once a week collection); 60 lbs of post organics/yard waste(collection once a week); and 20 lbs of garbage (bi-monthly collection).If the family generates 200 pounds for the month, the family receive xpoints. Every 5 pounds below 120 pounds is an extra point. Every 5pounds above 120 pounds is a deduction in points. If the ratio ofgarbage to organics and recycling is above 10%, the entity receives apoint deduction, and if it is below, then the entity receives an extrabonus.

To facilitate determining the value, the application-server software 150may employ database software along with a database and algorithms thatform one or more models for assigning the value to thedeposited-material measure. In a first exemplary embodiment, the valuemay be assigned by the fact a participant contributed to the wastereduction program in any amount. In another exemplary embodiment, thevalue may be assigned correlating to the amount a participant threw outin a given period of time. In yet another exemplary embodiment, thevalue may be assigned contingent upon wasting less than a thresholdvalue, determined by either a community-based average or a participant'sown average. In one additional embodiment, the value may be assignedbased on whether the participant had a successive pickup period ofdecreasing amounts of waste.

Alternative exemplary embodiments contemplate combinations of the above,as well as similar predetermined algorithms. The database software incombination with the database and algorithms may provide flexibility inapplying different rates for determining the value. These rates maydiffer based on availability of the financial offerings, the type ofentity, geographic area of the entity, and other demographics. The ratesmay be applied so that the entities receive an optimum incentive to forwaste reduction.

At step 312, the application-server software 150 associates a credit tothe value. To facilitate determining the credit, the application-serversoftware 150 may employ the database software along with the databaseand algorithms that form one or more models for determining andassociating a credit to the value to the deposited material measure.

At step 314, after the application-server software 150 posts credit tothe entity account, the web-server software 152 posts account (and in,turn, the credit) on a web page to allow the entity to access the creditand the other information associated with the waste reductionactivities. To facilitate this, the web-server software 152 obtainsaccount, and in turn, the credit and the other information associatedwith the waste reduction activities, from the application-serversoftware 150. The web-server software 152 may obtain the credit and theother information in response to a query by the web-server software 152and/or upon being triggered as a result of a condition, such as inresponse to the application-server software 150 pushing such informationto the web-server software 152.

Additionally, step 314 may include the step of providing one or moremessages to the entity. These messages may include positive and/ornegative reinforcement in connection with recycling, waste disposal,and/or waste reduction activities. For example, in one embodiment, whenthe amount of waste an entity has discarded decreases from one period toanother, a message congratulating the entity may be sent to the entity,containing a message such as, “Congratulations! Your waste outputdecreased by p % ! Keep up the good work!” where p % is a percentagechange over a given period of time. Conversely, in another example, ifthe amount of waste an entity has discarded increases from one period tothe next, a message encouraging the entity to reduce its waste outputmay be sent to the entity, containing a message such as, “Your wasteoutput increased by p %. Reduce your waste output to earn valuablerewards!”

The messages sent to the entity may contain a waste output assessmentfor the entity which is based on a group or community average. Forexample, if an entity's waste output is greater than the average ormedian of a group's or a community's waste output, a negative messagewill be generated and sent to the entity as above. Conversely, if anentity's waste output is smaller than the average or median of a group'sor a community's waste output, a positive message will be generated andsent to the entity as above.

Such a message may be delivered via any medium or media feasible in thecontext of the present invention, including but not limited to e-mail,conventional mail (e.g., by the United States Postal Service), SMS, textmessage, telephone call, any other medium of communication feasible inthe context of the present invention, or any combination thereof. Thesemessages may be automatically generated (e.g., by computer-executablecode) each time the entity's waste output is assessed.

After step 314, the method 300 may transition to optional steps 316, 318and/or to process termination block 320. At step 316, the web-serversoftware 152 allows the entity, via the user device 107, to redeem thecredit. This may include the web-server software 152 providing a portalto the retailers to allow the entity to redeem the credit (and/orpreviously accrued credits) at the retailers to obtain goods, services,coupons valued for goods or services, other benefits or discounts, andthe like.

The web-server software 152 may also be operable to allow the entity totransform the credit (and/or previously accrued credits) into one ormore vouchers that may be spent at the participating retailers ordonated to some other entity. To facilitate this, the web-serversoftware 152 allows the entity to (i) order the vouchers for delivery bymail, email or other communication medium; and/or (ii) provideinformation to the entity via the user device 107 to allow the entity toprint or otherwise reduce to physical form, store it on the user device107 or a peripheral device coupled to the user device 107.

At optional step 318, the web-server software 152 provides the entitywith access to one or more reports, which are formed as a function ofthe credit and the other information associated with the waste reductionactivities (collectively “report data”).

The reports may include one or more reports that report data at anentity, street, neighborhood, community, township, county, city or statelevel. The reports may include reports that report participation ratesand averages, and waste disposal rates and averages. As noted above, thereport data and reports may be used to enhance collection routing andefficiency, and target community outreach. The report data and reportsenable municipalities, private haulers, contractors, environmentalconsultants and governmental officials to understand when and where thewaste removal fleet should go, and to determine truck capacity forroutes, and frequency of collection. The report data and reports enablemunicipalities, private haulers, environmental consultants, academicsand government officials to perform community outreach and to measurethe effectiveness of community outreach and waste reduction educationefforts.

Examples of the reports include, but are not limited by, a Single UserReport, a Full User Report, a Single Vendor Report, a Vendor Report, aVendor Report (Graph), a Monthly Overview Report, a Monthly RouteOverview Report, a Hauler Overview Report, an Analysis of WasteReduction and Participation Rates Report, and a Daily Report of RewardsOrdered Report.

At step 320, the method 300 terminates. Alternatively, the method 300may be repeated periodically, in continuous fashion, or upon beingtriggered as a result of a condition, such as obtaining anotherquantifiable measure of deposited material in waste container 102. Asanother alternative, the method 300 may be repeated for a multiple ofentities.

Although the foregoing describes using the host 106 and/or user device107 to carry out steps 314-316 electronically, such steps may be carriedout using hard copy documents mailed to the entity (for example, thereports, such as monthly account statements, can be mailed to theentity). The hardcopy documents may be carried out in lieu of or inaddition to carrying out the steps 314-316 electronically. Further, itis noted that location of the entity associated with waste container 102can garnered using a positioning receiver of a global positioning systemor other type navigation system. This positioning receiver may beaffixed to or removably attached to the pickup vehicle 102 and/or thewaste container 102.

Alternatively, a method may be implemented as depicted by the method 400in FIG. 4. The method 400 begins at step 402. At step 404, aquantifiable measure of a deposited waste material may be collected byany means, including but not limited to by way of a pickup vehicle asdescribed hereinabove with reference to the method 300 and the system100.

At step 406, one or more values associated with the quantifiable measureof a deposited waste material may be obtained and recorded, such as byway of a load-determining device 110 and/or a data acquisition unit 112.These one or more values may include but are not limited to weight,mass, volume, any other property feasible in the context of the presentinvention, or any combination thereof. One or more of these values maybe recorded, as described hereinabove, using a database or like systemon a host system, or may be recorded in the conventional manual manner(e.g., pen and paper).

At step 408, one or more values associated with the quantifiable measureof a deposited waste material may be adjusted based on a predetermineddisposal allotment value. The adjustment may take place as describedhereinabove, wherein an entity that disposes more than its predetermineddisposal allotment value allows is penalized by decreasing thedesirability of one or more values associated with the quantifiablemeasure of a deposited waste material, and conversely, wherein an entitythat disposes less than its predetermined disposal allotment valueallows is rewarded by increasing the desirability of one or more valuesassociated with the quantifiable measure of a deposited waste material.In this manner, the entity is discouraged from disposing of materialwhich will eventually end up in a landfill or other waste processingfacility, and conversely rewarded for decreasing its waste output, thusencouraging eco-friendly consumer behavior.

At step 410, a credit may be associated with one or more valuesassociated with the quantifiable measure of a deposited waste material.For example, a positive credit may be associated with an entity whichdisposed of less material than its predetermined disposal allotmentvalue. Conversely, a negative credit or a less-desirable positive creditmay be associated with an entity which disposed of more material thanits predetermined disposal allotment value. Such credit may be financialin nature (e.g., coupons, scrip, cash), may be of token value which maybe redeemable for financial rewards (e.g., “points,” tokens), of anyother value or worth feasible in the context of the present invention,or any combination thereof.

At step 412, one or more of the credits from step 410 may be distributedto an entity. The distribution of these credits may be accomplishedthrough a number of means, including but not limited to electronicdistribution (e.g., printable token sent via e-mail, accumulation ofvirtual units in an online account), physical distribution (e.g., viaconventional mail (USPS, etc.), via hand delivery), via any distributionmeans feasible in the context of the present invention, or anycombination thereof.

After the distribution step 412, the method 400 may terminate at step414. Alternatively, the method 400 may be repeated periodically, incontinuous fashion, or upon being triggered as a result of a condition,such as obtaining another quantifiable measure of deposited material inwaste container 102. As another alternative, the method 400 may berepeated for a multiple of entities.

Additionally, in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention, an optional step may be implemented after the distributionstep 412 in which one or more rewards may be distributed to an entity.The rewards may be financial in nature, material in nature (i.e., aprize), may be of direct economic value, of any other worth or valuefeasible in the context of the present invention, or any combinationthereof. One or more rewards distributed in this manner may bedistributed in exchange for one or more credits, as in a redemptionprocess.

In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, sucha method 400 may further comprise the step of generating of one or morereports. These reports may comprise one or more data relating to one ormore entities, including such data as account information (which mayinclude entities' personal information, including but not limited toname, address, and telephone number), information relating to credits,information relating to rewards, raw measurement data, any other datafeasible in the context of the present invention, or any combinationthereof.

FIG. 5 depicts another method in accordance with yet another embodimentof the present invention. The method 500 may begin at step 502. At step504, a quantifiable measure of a deposited waste material associatedwith an entity is collected. A quantifiable measure of a deposited wastematerial may comprise any material as described hereinabove withreference to other embodiments of the present invention, and may becollected in any manner as described hereinabove.

At step 506, a quantifiable measure of a deposited recyclable materialassociated with an entity is collected. A quantifiable measure of adeposited recyclable material may comprise any material as described asrecyclable or reusable hereinabove with reference to other embodimentsof the present invention, and may be collected in any manner asdescribed hereinabove, which may or may not be a similar or identicalmanner of collection as used in connection with a quantifiable measureof a deposited waste material. It should also be noted that aquantifiable measure of a deposited waste material and a quantifiablemeasure of a deposited recyclable material may be deposited in the sameor different storage containers or other container, and/or may be mixedor separated, before and/or after collection. After the recyclablecollection step 506, the method 500 may proceed to step 508.

At step 508, one or more values associated with the quantifiable measureof a deposited waste material are obtained. Such data acquisition stepmay be accomplished in a number of manners, including but not limited toobtaining data from a waste container, with or without the use of a dataacquisition unit, as described hereinabove with reference to an earlierembodiment of the present invention. One or more of these values may berecorded, as described hereinabove, using a database or like system on ahost system, or may be recorded in the conventional manual manner (e.g.,pen and paper).

At step 510, one or more values associated with the quantifiable measureof a deposited recyclable material are obtained. Such data acquisitionstep may be accomplished in the same or similar manner as the datacollection step with respect to the waste material, or in a completelydifferent manner altogether. One or more of these values may berecorded, as described hereinabove, using a database or like system on ahost system, or may be recorded in the conventional manual manner (e.g.,pen and paper).

At step 512, one or more values associated with at least one of thequantifiable measure of a deposited waste material and the quantifiablemeasure of a deposited recyclable material may be adjusted based on apredetermined diversion ratio. The adjustment of one or more of thesevalues may be based upon one or more values associated with at least oneof the quantifiable measure of a deposited waste material and thequantifiable measure of a deposited recyclable material as compared withthe predetermined diversion ratio.

In one aspect, the adjustment will negatively impact one of these valuesif a diversion ratio associated with an entity is less desirable thanthe predetermined diversion ratio, while in the same or another aspect,the adjustment will positively impact one of these values if a diversionratio associated with an entity is more desirable than the predetermineddiversion ratio. For example, a certain entity may be allowed 10%diversion which, in this instance, is calculated as the mass of aquantifiable measure of a deposited recyclable material divided by thetotal mass of deposited material. If that entity's diversion ratio is15% for a given time period, one or more values associated with theentity, such as a credit value, may be augmented by a given amount orpercentage. If, however, the same entity's diversion ratio is 8% for agiven time period, one or more values associated with the entity, suchas a credit value, may be decreased by a given amount or percentage. Thegiven amount or percentage may be proportional to the change from thepredetermined diversion ratio, may be proportional to the change from adiversion ratio associated with the entity during a different timeperiod, may be a fixed value, may be based upon the change in one ormore diversion ratios associated with one or more other entities from apredetermined diversion ratio, may be based upon the change in one ormore diversion ratios associated with one or more other entities duringa different time period, may be calculated or derived in any mannerfeasible in the context of the present invention, or any combinationthereof.

At step 514, a credit is associated with one or more values associatedwith at least one of the quantifiable measure of a deposited wastematerial and the quantifiable measure of a deposited recyclablematerial. Such a credit may take the form of any credit describedhereinabove with reference to earlier embodiments. After the creditassociation step 514, the method 500 may proceed to step 516.

At step 516, one or more credits may be distributed to the entity. Thiscredit distribution may be accomplished in any manner as describedhereinabove with reference to earlier embodiments. This distribution mayalso be conducted in exchange for one or more credits, also as describedhereinabove.

After the credit distribution step 516, the method 500 may terminate atstep 518. Alternatively, the method 500 may be repeated periodically, incontinuous fashion, or upon being triggered as a result of a condition,such as obtaining another quantifiable measure of deposited material inwaste container 102. As another alternative, the method 500 may berepeated for a multiple of entities.

It should also be noted that the steps of credit redemption and reportgeneration, as described hereinabove with reference to method 400, mayalso be included in the method 500 without departing from the scope ofembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows an illustrative method 600 in which a deployment scheme fortrucks is dynamically reconfigured based on received and assessedinformation about deposited material, such as trash and recyclables,inside a waste container 102. In step 605, a deployed truck 104measures, using a load determining device 110 on the lift 114, an amountof deposited material in a waste container 102. The measured depositedmaterial may be stored, for example, as part of the records 136 storedby the data acquisition unit 112 or other computing device associatedwith the truck 104.

In step 610, the data acquisition unit 112 associated with the trucktransmits at least the measured deposited material, or records, to thehost server 138 for processing. The transmitted information can includean address of the pickup location, an identity of the container owner,the composition of the container's contents (e.g., metal recyclables,plastic recyclables, waste, etc.), and the weight of a containermeasured by the load determining device 110. Such information may beobtained, for example, using a reader that scans a tag affixed torespective containers, as discussed above.

In step 615, the host server 138 receives the transmitted informationabout at least the measured deposited material within the containersfrom the data acquisition unit 112. In step 620, the host serverassesses the received information using one or more of vehicle, time, orroute as metrics. For example, FIG. 7 shows a taxonomy of time frames bywhich deposited material information is assessed, as representativelyshown by numeral 705. Exemplary and non-exhaustive time frames caninclude weekdays, weekends, a specific day, range of days, etc. 710 andduring defined time periods (e.g., season) 715. FIG. 8 shows a taxonomyof entities to which costs are designated for a route, asrepresentatively shown by numeral 805. Exemplary entities can include acontainer owner 810, building 815, neighborhood 820, municipality 825,geographic tax area 830, and other defined entities or areas 835.

Referring back to FIG. 6, in step 625, the host server dynamicallyreconfigures a deployment scheme by which the vehicles pick up thedeposited material, such as for future trips. The reconfigureddeployment scheme may be determined based on the assessed receivedinformation derived from step 620. The reconfigured deployment schemecan include, for example, changing the number of trucks sent on a route,changing the size of the truck sent on a route (e.g., trucks can varyfrom small to large based on the amount of deposited material to pickup), and the frequency by which vehicles are sent out.

The host server can save and maximize resources by appropriatelydeploying trucks based on a given situation. For example, a client'smonetary resources are saved when an amount of recyclables to be pickedup offset the cost associated with disposable trash pickup, and becausesmaller sized trucks, which typically cost less than larger trucks, canbe deployed if the amount of deposited material is minimal. Instead ofsending out trucks to only pick up disposable waste, the host server canconfigure a scheme in which trucks are deployed when one or more clientshave sufficient recyclables credited to the customer that can offset thecost of disposable waste. The credit for recyclables and cost fordisposable waste can be assessed, for example, using the container'sweight obtained by the load determining device and multiplying thatweight by a value or cost for the given deposited material.

The disposal company can save natural, personnel, and other resourcesfor deploying resources that are proportional to that which is necessaryto pick up the deposited material. That is, an appropriate number ofpersonnel and an appropriately sized truck can be deployed for a givenroute based on the assessed information. Over time, the host server candevelop a plan by which to send trucks based on information obtained inthe past. An understanding that, for example, the amount of garbage forpick up tapers off in the winter, or any season, can influence the hostserver's developed scheme to send out smaller trucks and/or send outtrucks at a reduced frequency when the winter approaches.

FIG. 9 shows a taxonomy of illustrative actions that may be performed bythe host server—such as the dynamic reconfiguration of the deploymentscheme discussed above—as illustratively shown by numeral 905. Exemplaryactions that the host server can perform include, for example, determinean amount of trash and/or recyclables collected by vehicle, time, androute 910, and dynamically reconfigure a deployment scheme for trashpickup 915, including the number of vehicles sent out on each route 920,the size of vehicles sent on a route 925, and the frequency by whichvehicles are sent out 930. Additional actions that the host server canperform include assign a cost of trash and value of recyclables,respectively, to a minimum amount and then to the amount collected 935,charge a product of the trash amount collected which is multiplied bythe assigned cost to that entity 940 (FIG. 8), credit a product of theamount of recyclables collected which is multiplied by the assigned costto the entity 945, and offer incentives when the credited recyclablesexceed the charged trash for the entity 950.

The methods 300, 400, and 500 beneficially provide a unique economicincentive for increasing participation rates, as well as for entities todecrease their waste disposal rate. In addition, the methods 300, 400,and 500 may cause households, governments and businesses to receivecertain benefits, as are understood in the waste removal industry.

While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention,other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised withoutdeparting from the basic scope thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method performed by a computer server to offseta cost of trash pickup based on information about a client's depositedmaterial, comprising: receiving information about deposited materialcontained in one or more waste containers, in which the information isreceived from computing devices associated with respective vehicleswhich implement load determining devices to weigh the depositedmaterial; assessing the received information by vehicle, time, and routeon which the vehicles travel to pick up the deposited material; anddynamically reconfiguring a deployment scheme by which vehicles pick uptrash along routes using the assessment of the received information byvehicle, time, and route.
 2. The method of claim 1, in which thedynamically reconfigured deployment scheme is for future occurrences oftrash pickup.
 3. The method of claim 1, in which reconfiguring thedeployment scheme includes determining a number of vehicles sent on aroute.
 4. The method of claim 1, in which reconfiguring the deploymentscheme includes determining a size of a vehicle sent on a route.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, in which reconfiguring the deployment scheme includesdetermining a frequency by which vehicles are sent on a route.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: determining an amount ofdeposited material based on the received information; and assigning acost value to disposable waste in the deposited material and a creditvalue to recyclables in the deposited material, wherein the dynamicallyreconfigured deployment scheme indicates a pickup of the depositedmaterial when the credit value afforded by the recyclables offsets someof the cost value incurred by the disposable waste.
 7. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the assigned cost and credit values are determined bymultiplying an amount of disposable waste and recyclables by adesignated cost for a respective entity.
 8. The method of claim 7, inwhich the entity includes one or more of a container owner, building,neighborhood, municipality, or geographic tax area.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, in which assessing the received information by time includesassessing by one or more days of a week.
 10. The method of claim 1, inwhich assessing the received information by time includes assessing bytime periods.
 11. One or more hardware-based non-transitory memorydevices comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executedby the one or more instructions, cause a computing device to: receiveinformation about deposited material contained in one or more wastecontainers, in which the information is received from computing devicesassociated with respective vehicles which implement load determiningdevices to weigh the deposited material; assess the received informationby vehicle, time, and route on which the vehicles travel to pick up thedeposited material; and dynamically reconfigure a deployment scheme bywhich vehicles pick up trash along routes using the assessment of thereceived information by vehicle, time, and route.
 12. The one or morehardware-based non-transitory memory devices of claim 11, in which thedynamically reconfigured deployment scheme is for future occurrences oftrash pickup.
 13. The one or more hardware-based non-transitory memorydevices of claim 11, in which reconfiguring the deployment schemeincludes determining a number of vehicles sent on a route.
 14. The oneor more hardware-based non-transitory memory devices of claim 11, inwhich reconfiguring the deployment scheme includes determining a size ofvehicle sent on a route.
 15. The one or more hardware-basednon-transitory memory devices of claim 11, in which reconfiguring thedeployment scheme includes determining a frequency by which vehicles aresent on a route.
 16. The one or more hardware-based non-transitorymemory devices of claim 11, in which the executed instructions furthercause the computing device to: determine an amount of deposited materialbased on the received information; and assign a cost value to disposablewaste in the deposited material and a credit value to recyclables in thedeposited material, wherein the dynamically reconfigured deploymentscheme indicates a pickup of the deposited material when the creditvalue afforded by the recyclables offsets some of the cost valueincurred by the disposable waste.
 17. The one or more hardware-basednon-transitory memory devices of claim 16, wherein the assigned cost andcredit values are determined by multiplying an amount of disposablewaste and recyclables by a designated cost for a respective entity. 18.The one or more hardware-based non-transitory memory devices of claim17, in which the entity includes one or more of a container owner,building, neighborhood, municipality, or geographic tax area.
 19. Theone or more hardware-based non-transitory memory devices of claim 11, inwhich assessing the received information by time includes assessing byone or more days of a week.
 20. The one or more hardware-basednon-transitory memory devices of claim 11, in which assessing thereceived information by time includes assessing by time periods.